Fans turned away from Mumford & Sons gig after tickets bought on Viagogo turned out to be fakes

Fans of Mumford & Sons were left disappointed after the tickets they bought from controversial secondary ticket seller Viagogo for a gig in Portsmouth last night turned out to be fake.

Reports today claim around 100 people were refused entry to the Guildhall where the folk-rock band was playing. Viagogo said that 'a handful' of these were its customers.

It is thought the fake tickets, which sold for as much as £200 on its website, were also sold through other ticket reselling websites. The tickets had an original face value of £23.50.

Folk fake: Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons told fans to only buy through official vendors after fake tickets were sold on reselling websites.

Viagogo customers will have their money refunded and will be provided with tickets to a future performance by the band on top.

It is Viagogo's policy to withhold buyers' money until they have successfully attended the event, only after which will it pass on the money to the seller. The money from the forged Mumford & Sons tickets was not passed on to the seller and was refunded to fans.

Ed Parkinson of Viagogo said: 'It is futile for criminals to try to sell fake tickets with us because they will only get their money if the buyers gets to the gig. The tragedy here is the disappointment of those fans and that's why we're refunding their money and giving them the chance to see the band for free.'

More...

A statement on the band's website said: 'We sincerely hope that not too many of you good honest Mumford & Sons fans have been affected. If you have purchased tickets from any secondary vendors then we would urge you to seek your money back immediately.

'Remember to always purchase tickets from official vendors only.'

The Mumford & Sons episode was not the only challenge for Viagogo yesterday. In a potential landmark legal ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed that the site would have to hand over the names of a small numbers of vendors who had sold rugby tickets through the site.

The action had been brought by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) which had included a clause in the terms of the tickets that they should not be resold.

Many tickets include such clauses, sometimes specifying that the ticket will be void if sold for profit.

On discovering the tickets had been sold on Viagogo, the RFU requested the names in order to take legal action against the sellers. The company had refused to supply the names and the decision to force them to raises the possibility that other event promoters could pursue resellers through secondary ticket sites.

Legal tussle: Viagogo could have to hand over the names of other sellers following the Supreme Court sided with the Rugby Football Union.

After the decision went against Viagogo, the company's spokesman said: 'We believe it is unfair for contracts to prohibit the resale of tickets. We are able to sell other types of property so why not tickets?'

Viagogo said it will still refuse to supply names on the grounds that users sign up to the site in the knowledge that their details will be kept private under data protection rules.

As a secondary ticket seller, Viagogo provides an online marketplace for individuals to sell their tickets to other fans. Is has had to fend of accusations that it is facilitating ticket touts who buy numerous tickets for popular events and sell them at inflated prices.

Tickets for popular concerts have known to be listed on the site at huge mark ups within hours of going on general sale.

Earlier this year the Channel 4’s Dispatches programme used information uncovered by a This is Money investigation to reveal that Viagogo had sold thousands of tickets for popular events that had never been on sale at face value, having been provided with them directly by promoters.

The current affairs show went undercover at Viagogo, one of the UK’s biggest ticket re-selling sites, and found that the majority of the tickets it offered for sale were not from individual fans but from large scale professional ticket re-sellers or tickets allocated by promoters.

Have you had problems with concert tickets? Email us: editor@thisismoney.co.uk